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The Examination Arena (and how to survive)

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Published on Friday, 21 October 2011 12:46

In times of recession, struggling for survival and general grief we as teachers, apart from coping with the financial difficulties and the decreasing numbers of our students, still have to do our main duty which is to educate them and not just prepare them for an examination, something we all have been doing for many years now.

History has proven that in times of hardship Greek people can rally and fight at all costs in order to survive, to evolve and make up for lost time.

So, this is the time for all of us to turn all this grief and disappointment into joy and optimism first and foremost for the sake of our students and secondly for ourselves, however difficult that may sound.

Getting a certification is the final goal of students and their parents let alone the popularity and liability of foreign language schools or private lesson teachers but what about real knowledge?

What about real and effective communication? These are questions we should all ask ourselves before teaching.

Now that the ‘Greek dream’ of becoming a civil servant seems to be too dim to come true and working for the private sector has become not only challenging but also precarious, just holding a certificate will no longer be the case but demonstrating real communicative skills.

So, in this time of continuous changes and upturns, we have to grab at the ‘opportunity’, teach our students real English and provide them with firm foundations where to build their career and future on.

‘Easy said hard to be done’ some teachers may say, especially when we are all under pressure for successful candidates and unfortunately they will be right.

On the other hand, in Greece which has become a ‘European language certification center’ and ASEP prevails, English teachers and school owners have turned to a ruthless struggle for best results and an endless search for the most reliable, prestigious and truly recognized certificates,(not that local and international recognition is not a burning issue) caring only for success.

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